After a great time visiting the Gallery of Modern Arts, Fly Away exhibit with Nanny, Cakes was all a buzz talking about birds, their nests and how they look after their babies. As we are still trying to establish a garden (a year after starting) for her to play in and care for, I have been trying to come up with ideas to draw animals and creatures to her garden. With this interest in mind it was the perfect time to work on a bird's nest distribution centre (a place for birds to collect materials for their nests).
Firstly we had to decide on a design. As we have a neighbourhood full of cats it was important it would be up high and not along the fence line. With inspirations from a broken link on Pinterest I decided to use an old coat hanger as the casings. I then thought I would add some fine netting around a few sides so that it would keep everything Cakes put in it in there though still allow the birds access. Cakes and I collect a variety of items to place inside the casings. She chose ribbons, materials, cotton wool, pipe cleaners and straws.
Big Cousin H and Cakes set out to add a variety of materials to their casings. This started with several minutes of both children investigating the materials. They discussed how things felt, the weight of the items and what they were going to place in the casings. Big Cousin H got caught up in the excitement of cutting. As many of the items were thick or hard to cut children scissors were not given to the children and adult scissors were being used. Cakes is still developing an understanding of how to use scissors and strength in her hands. Big Cousin H was enlisted to do all the cutting with the help of Aunty Teen. Cakes watched what items Big Cousin H put into his casing and chose items similar to his.
They were very proud to show off their bird nest distribution centre. Despite the rain both the children, Aunty Teen and I went down in the back yard to find a suitable place for the birds to collect their resources. The children helped us find a place that was high enough away from the cats and away from the fence line. We are yet to see any birds take any pieces for their nests as we have not had a clear night since placing them in the yard. I hope Cakes is fortunate enough to see a bird take something from the casing.
| Learning
| What you will need:
|
Other posts you might like -
 |
RSS Feed
